Emptying Border War Notebook

Sunday

Nov 29, 2009 at 12:01 AMNov 29, 2009 at 6:21 PM

Dave Matter

If you thought anything other than beating Kansas was important to Missouri’s coaches and players Saturday night … if you thought beating Kansas was no more important than beating Colorado, Kansas State or Iowa State … if you thought any set of numbers produced at Arrowhead Stadium — 498 (Todd Reesing’s passing yards), 9 of 15 (KU’s third-down conversion rate), 90, 78, 68, 78, 72 (the length of KU’s touchdown drives) — mattered more than 41-39, then this scene that unfolded outside the Tigers’ locker room should tell you otherwise. (At least it did for this writer.)

Not 10 feet away from the Border Showdown trophy that sat all alone on a table, Missouri offensive coordinator David Yost found a narrow hallway deep within the stadium bowels, his eyes glazed from the postgame melee. Yost pumped his fist repeatedly and shouted to no in particular because, as far as Yost knew, no one was around to witness the rare moment of unbridled passion from the usually pokerfaced assistant. "What a win! What a team win! A total team win!" It was a little corny but every bit genuine.

Mind you, this is a 39-year-old guy who grew up in Ohio with zero childhood ties to the Missouri-Kansas rivalry, the kind that define the makeup of so many of the 70,000 fans at Arrowhead. But here was Yost, so enraptured in the series’ 118th meeting, so hell-bent on constructing an offense to do nothing more than outscore the Jayhawks, that accomplishing that goal would lead to this private little childlike celebration. These guys were just so damn glad to beat their rival. Really, isn’t that what college football’s all about?

That’s what made this Border Showdown so simple yet so compelling, at least from Missouri’s perspective. There was nothing tangible on the line for the Tigers, no championship stakes riding on a victory. In fact, a win or loss to the Jayhawks might not have impacted Missouri’s bowl stock in the Big 12 pecking order.

Still, the Tigers’ purpose could not have been less complicated: Beat. Your. Rival. Nothing more, nothing less. Stats won’t be remembered. Scores will. So … beat your rival. Ruin their year. Keep them home for the postseason. Watch them wallow in turmoil.

Remember that core of Jayhawks who stole your BCS bid in 2007 and tarnished your 2008? Remember how those guys — Reesing, Dez Briscoe, Darrell Stuckey, Kerry Meier — put a stain on the senior years of Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman, Willy Moore and Ziggy Hood? Well, here’s your chance for payback. Beat them and terminate their college careers. (Briscoe is just a junior but could jump early to the NFL.)

And, on that note, the Tigers did exactly that. Sometimes Missouri puts its fans through squeamish moments with that leaky secondary, the occasionally disappearing pass rush and 2-point conversions that compel you to throw your remote through the TV. And, granted, a win doesn’t entirely admonish those struggles or decisions. But at some point, even the most persnickety of nit-pickers has to appreciate a team’s ability to shake off adversity and manufacture a victory — even if the opposing coach lends a hand to the effort with a few questionable decisions.

Lastly, consider this about Missouri’s wacky but ultimately resilient 2009 season: Since Pinkel came to MU in 2001, the Tigers have won just five of the 38 games they’ve trailed at halftime. Three of those five have come this season, two in the last two weeks.

"Whenever the game’s on the line or when that fourth quarter kicks in," defensive end Brian Coulter said, "it’s like everybody steps it up another notch."

? BTS Offensive Player of the Game: Derrick Washington was fantastic. Blaine Gabbert is coming of age before our eyes. But Danario Alexander was, well, Danario Alexander, which means he was once again the best wide receiver in college football.

Here’s where Alexander now stands on the NCAA stat chart: No. 1 in receiving yards per game (137.0), No. 2 in receptions per game (8.9) and No. 4 in touchdown catches (13.)

There have been 13 200-yard receiving games by FBS receivers this season, and Alexander owns three. There have been 10 games by Big 12 receivers of 170 receiving yards or more, and Alexander has six.

And Alexander is averaging a NCAA-best 47.9 yards on his 13 touchdown catches. The next best in the country is Notre Dame’s Golden Tate at 29.9.

For the latest indictment against the Biletnikoff Award and its absolutely mindless, incomprehensibly arcane nominating policy, consider these numbers:

Here’s what Alexander has done the last five weeks:

vs. Colorado: 8 catches – 123 yards, 2 TDs

vs. Baylor: 13-214, TD

vs. Kansas State: 10-200, 3 TDs

vs. Iowa State: 11-173, TD

vs. Kansas: 15-233, TD

Now, here’s how Alexander’s season stats compare to those from Texas wideout — and Biletnikoff finalist — Jordan Shipley. Through 12 games …

Alexander: 107 catches, 1,644 yards, 13 touchdowns

Shipley: 99 catches, 1,292 yards, 11 touchdowns

Now, where Alexander really separates his level of production comes in conference games. In eight Big 12 games …

Alexander: 78 catches - 1,240 yards, nine TDs

Shipley: 63 - 656, eight TDs

That’s right: Alexander has racked up almost double the receiving yards in conference games.

Shipley’s a fine receiver, but if you actually peel behind his numbers, it becomes obvious he’s piled up his stats against Texas’ weakest opponents and posted modest numbers against the best of Texas’ competition. Consider …

vs. Louisiana-Monroe: eight catches, 180 yards, TD

vs. Central Florida: 11 catches, 273 yards, TD

And then …

vs. Texas Tech: 11-73, zero TDs

vs. Oklahoma: four-22, zero TDs

vs. Oklahoma State: six-64, zero TDs

In those three games, Shipley had less receiving yardage (159) than Alexander had in the third quarter against Kansas. Again, not a misprint.

While we’re at it, how did they do against common opponents?

vs. Kansas: Alexander, 15-233, 1; Shipley, 10-108-1

vs. Oklahoma State: Alexander 9-180-1; Shipley, 6-64-0

vs. Baylor: Alexander, 13-214-1; Shipley, 6-46-2

vs. Colorado: Alexander, 8-123-2; Shipley, 11-147-2

"Obviously you’ve got to live in a cave to not know how good this guy is," Pinkel said of Alexander on Saturday. "It’s every week. It’s every single week. It’s not like he goes out and has a good game, then an average game. The guy can make plays. He’s very comparable to the guy we had a year ago who plays for the Eagles. I have no trouble putting him in the same sentence."

"I think the Heisman is an award that really fluctuates during the season," Pinkel added, "but for some reason the Biletnikoff doesn’t."

Bottom line, whoever wins the Biletnikoff between Shipley, Notre Dame’s Tate or Bowling Green’s Freddie Barnes, the folks who run the award should be obligated to make up for their oversight and inexplicable policies by requiring the winner to mention Alexander in his acceptance speech. It’s the least they could do to acknowledge the deserved winner … or at least, a deserved finalist.

? BTS Defensive Player of the Game: It’s hard to reward any defensive player in a game that features 1,100 yards of offense and 80 points. But this mention is more about one play, that of defensive end Brian Coulter. When Missouri absolutely needed a stop on KU’s 3-yard line with 2 minutes and change on the clock, Coulter bull-rushed against the inside shoulder of right tackle Brad Thorson and swarmed Reesing along with Aldon Smith, who was lined up in the 3-technique D-tackle position. The safety not only cut KU’s lead to 1 but more important gave possession back to Missouri.

Coulter will probably never live up to all the hype that surrounded his arrival in the summer of 2008, but he gets credit for two of Missouri’s biggest defensive plays of the season.

Back on Sept. 26 at Nevada, Coulter stripped running back Luke Lippincott on the 4-yard line and recovered the fumble, which MU converted into a go-ahead touchdown drive. (Smith was credited with the strip, but replays clearly showed Coulter punch the ball loose.)

Missouri’s defensive players later explained that D-coordinator Dave Steckel signaled in a call intended to bottle up a quarterback draw. Expecting a third straight Reesing pass, Coulter and nose tackle Jaron Baston initially questioned Steckel’s call but later praised it after Kansas tried the fateful draw.

“The coach called a good play,” Smith said. “The play was designed to make the quarterback scramble. It worked out like that.”

? BTS Special Teams Player of the Game: Hard to pick one over the other, so punter Jake Harry and kicker Grant Ressel are going to share this one. Harry was deadly in the field position battle, dropping all five of his punts inside KU’s 20-yard line, including three inside the 5. Ressel was his usually cool self, drilling four field goals, none bigger than the game-winner as time expired.

Not often but every once in a while in this job you come across a player who’s just too good to be true, a kid who performs on the field with the guts and poise of a man without losing his little boy’s sense of wonderment. That is Grant Ressel.

“I was a little nervous, you know,” Ressel said. “I tried not too think of it too much and make it a normal kick for me. But, you know, it’s kind of hard not to think about the consequences if you miss. But you just want to think, ‘Oh, I’m making this.’ ”

For the record, this guy takes back any reservations he had about Ressel’s ability to handle the stressful kicking job. Back when I met him for the first time in August, in what was probably one of Ressel’s first interviews, I thought he was friendly and polite as a Boy Scout but couldn’t help notice his nerves as we chatted. How is this guy, I thought, going to kick field goals in front of 60,000? The answer came quickly as Ressel continued MU’s remarkable run of kicking prowess. First with Jeff Wolfert and now Ressel, dare we say Missouri has become Placekicker U?

As reporters circled around him in the postgame interview room, Ressel was shaking hands with MU Chancellor Brady Deaton, who said he wanted to make sure he met the day’s biggest hero.

Undoubtedly a memorable experience for the studious Ressel, but it couldn’t have compared to getting hoisted off the field by his teammates following the game-winning kick.

“This is cool,” he said he thought to himself while up in the air. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been carried off the field.”

? BTS Assistant Coach of the Week: Credit offensive coordinator David Yost for an aggressive early approach throwing the ball downfield, a strategy that helped soften the middle of the field for MU’s quick passes and running game in the second half. Also, Yost has Gabbert running the zone-read option much more effectively than he was earlier in the season

Later this week, I’ll unveil my Associated Press All-Big 12 ballot and we’ll continue to track the Big 12 bowl games, most of which are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss their selections.

The AP is set to announce Big 12 coach of the year on Tuesday, offensive and defensive player of the year on Wednesday and the complete first- and second-All-Big 12 teams on Thursday.